They can also combine together, so a spikey loop will need you to press R and X at the same time, while a block with a pit in it needs L and down. These come in four forms – a block, a loop, spikes and a pit, which are tackled by pressing L, R, X and down respectively. Gameplay consists of Vibri running down a straight line like an auto-running 2D platformer, dodging obstacles along the way.

Yet it still has a place in the conversation thanks to its fever dream selection of ideas, albeit a lot is lost from playing on Vita. There’s no one theme running between them, but they’re all upbeat and constantly change tempo making for exciting levels yet are just genuinely enjoyable to listen to as well.Ī deceptively simple idea, Vib Ribbon is an influential title whose successors can be seen in today’s gaming landscape. The seven included songs here are brilliant though. Vibri speaks in a high pitched Japanese accent when he’s jabbering at you between the levels which is sweet and otherwise you’re left to play your own CD’s to contribute to the audio package, which is obviously impossible when playing on Vita. There’s really not much else going on in the levels, aside from a few floating bits of colour in the background, but camera angles do swoop and change which gives a little variety. Each form has its own animations to overcome obstacles with too and I like how as a rabbit he extends his legs to cross the pit, while as a prince he does a little twirly dance across. It helps that Vibri himself is so cute, evolving into a prince when he’s doing well and devolving to a little slug when he’s doing poorly. With black backgrounds and white squiggles making up the levels, it would’ve been easy for the game to look an absolute state, but there’s an undeniable loveliness to things here. The why is left up to your interpretation and there’s no story here, but Vibri is an adorable protagonist who it’s easy to love.ĭesigned to load into the PS1’s RAM while you insert your own CD’s to create levels, Vib Ribbon is intentionally simplistic yet still manages to pack more charm in than the vast majority of other titles of the era. Vib Ribbon stars Vibri, a little rabbit creature who speaks Japanese and runs along 2D planes in time to music, dodging obstacles along the way.

Vib ribbon psp